A numerical study on the wall shear stress of stented artery model

The stimulation of neointimal hyperplasia by the low and oscillatory arterial wall shear stress (WSS) plays a central role in restenosis. Hemodynamic characteristics of blood flow through stenosis artery and stented artery are numerically investigated in this work. 3D CFD simulations were used to quantify the instantaneous WSS before and after the implantation of an independent designed stent. The blood is assumed as a Newtonian fluid and the pulsatile nature of flow is modeled by using a sinusoidal profile waveform of the inlet velocity. Discretized forms of the flow equations, through a rigid boundary condition, are obtained by control volume method and simultaneously solved using the well-known SIMPLE algorithm. Lowest WSS can be observed adjacent to each stent strut and link at any instants of the flow cycle. Low WSS values of less than 0.5 Pa were found at some instants in stent regions after stenting which may provide a source of endothelial stimulation propitious to restenosis, especially for the proximal stent portion. Also, WSS of never less than 0.5 Pa in the flow cycle were found 2.5mm pre-stent and post-stent segment after stenting which may be a safe region for restenosis.